Rulebooks Sort; Only Waking Up Touches the Real

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

Simrit saastar punn paap beechaarday — the Simritis and Shastras weigh good against bad. The Simritis were old books of laws and duties. The Shastras were careful books of learning. They are learning at its most organized. They sort punn, good deeds, from paap, wrong deeds, like a teacher keeping score.

But tatai saar na jaanee — they do not know the tat, the heart of what is real. Keeping score of good and bad, however carefully, never reaches it. Knowing about goodness is not the same as knowing the Real. You cannot get there by piling up more rules. Guroo baajhahu — it takes the Guru, the one who wakes us up.

Then the big picture. Tihee gunee sansaar bharam sutaa — the world is asleep in the three gunas. The gunas are three moods that run everyday life: heavy and lazy, busy and restless, and calm and pleasant. The surprise is that all three are sleep. Even the nice, calm mood is a dream if we forget the One. Life is the rain, one night. Suti-aa rain vihaanee — most people sleep right through it.

But gur kirpaa tay say jan jaagay — by the Guru's kindness, some are awake. You can tell because boleh amrit banee, they speak sweet, nectar words. The last line says they find the real thing. Jaagat rain vihaanee — they pass the night of life awake.

Teachers in this tradition like to picture a grandfather clock. The mind gets lost in its own swinging, tick, tock, until the Guru's chime wakes it up. Waking up, not sorting, is how we come to know the Real.